Powerful.... gripping.... heartbreaking. SEOUL TRAIN is a documentary you simply must see. These are real people, real lives on the line, real tragedy and triumph, real cowardice and evil.

By e-mailing, writing or calling your local PBS station, you can get this aired and share the plight of North Korean refugees in China being sent back to North Korea to be tortured and executed by the regime there with your fellow citizens. Or you can order the dvd from PBS, and share it with your church, community group or civic association.

In the riveting documentary SEOUL TRAIN, filmmakers Jim Butterworth, Lisa Sleeth and Aaron Lubarsky expose the life-and-death struggle faced by North Koreans who attempt to flee their homeland through China, a country that does not recognize their legal status as refugees.

In China, a few fortunate North Korean refugees discover Asias own Underground Railroad, a network of safe houses and hidden routes set up to lead refugees to freedom in South Korea. SEOUL TRAIN features courageous individuals from all over the world who put their own lives at risk to operate this railroad.

There are an estimated 250,000 North Korean refugees living in China. Having escaped starvation and torture at the hands of the North Korean regime, refugees living in China must continue to fight for survival. The Chinese government systematically raids homes, train stations and even taxis looking for North Koreans who they categorize as illegal immigrants. Chinese citizens are rewarded for turning in North Koreans living silently among them.

A Chinese soldier tries in vain to stop 25 North Korean refugees from rushing into the Spanish Embassy to obtain asylum
North Korean agents also cross into China looking to capture and repatriate North Koreans for the crime of leaving their country. Defecting from North Korea is a capital offense, and repatriated refugees face human rights abuses ranging from concentration camps and torture to forced abortion and summary executions.

Using actual footage taken by activists, SEOUL TRAIN goes behind the doors of the covert safe houses where different groups of refugees plan their escapes. We meet refugees like two-year-old Han-mi and her family, accused of speaking out against Kim Jong-ils regime. We hear the refugees first-hand accounts of life in North Korea and their fears of being caught and sent back. SEOUL TRAIN includes the dramatic footage of their escapes, as well as the stunning outcomes.

The film also examines how the international community is dealing with this humanitarian crisis. Refugee experts and activists claim the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is making only feeble attempts to stop China from violating international law by sending hundreds of refugees back to North Korea each month. The UNHCR and Chinese officials also tell their sides of the story.

Experts also consider the possible fall of Kim Jong-ils regime, an event that could send millions of refugees flooding across the shallow Tumen and Yalu rivers into China. Many fear that it will take such a catastrophe before the world truly understands the depths of this man-made tragedy.

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